title: Correlation between peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and fundus autofluorescence in primary open-angle glaucoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the relationship between retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness and retinal pigment epithelium alterations in patients with advanced glaucomatous visual field defects.
  
  
  METHODS
  A consecutive, prospective series of 82 study eyes with primary open-angle glaucoma and advanced glaucomatous visual field defects were included in this study. All study participants underwent a full ophthalmic examination followed by visual field testing with standard automated perimetry as well as spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) for peripapillary RNFL thickness and Optos wide-field fundus autofluorescence (FAF) images. A pattern grid with corresponding locations between functional visual field sectors and structural peripapillary RNFL thickness was aligned to the FAF images at corresponding location. Mean FAF intensity (range: 0 = black and 255 = white) of each evaluated sector (superotemporal, temporal, inferotemporal, inferonasal, nasal, superonasal) was correlated with the corresponding peripapillary RNFL thickness obtained with SD-OCT.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Correlation analyses between sectoral RNFL thickness and standardized FAF intensity in the corresponding topographic retina segments revealed partly significant correlations with correlation coefficients ranging between 0.004 and 0.376 and were statistically significant in the temporal inferior central field (r = 0.324, P = 0.036) and the nasal field (r = 0.376, P = 0.014).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Retinal pigment epithelium abnormalities correlate with corresponding peripapillary RNFL damage, especially in the temporal inferior sector of patients with advanced glaucomatous visual field defects. A further evaluation of FAF as a potential predictive parameter for glaucomatous damage is necessary.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Lukas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Reznicek
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Seidensticker
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mann
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hübert
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Buerger
authors.forename: Christos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Haritoglou
authors.forename: Aljoscha S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Neubauer
authors.forename: Anselm
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kampik
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hirneiss
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kernt
keywords: FAF; OCT; RNFL; fundus autofluorescence; glaucoma; imaging; optical coherence tomography; retinal nerve fiber layer